Step 17: The attachment points

Step 18: Future potential...

I think the foreheads of the inebriated are a large untapped reserve of printing space, whether for useful warning messages or private advertising cam...

This is a 3D printed plastic stamp with three interchangeable faces, designed to be kept behind the bar and used to leave helpful messages on the foreheads of passed-out drunkards. It was constructed in Autodesk 123D and printed using Ponoko.

Step 1: A text-based adventure in 3D printing and alcoholism

You wake up slowly. Your head is pounding. Your mouth feels like an old shoe box in which a diseased hedgehog has chosen to hibernate. You are lying, fully clothed, on the floor beside a bed. You cannot remember how you got here. On the bedside table is half a glass of water which has been sitting there for at least a month.

>Get up.

You try to get up, but your stomach climbs up your throat and tries to smother your brain. You lie back down.

>Drink the water.

You are too far away from the water and you lack the coordination required to crawl.

>Sleep.

You doze off again, in the hope that sleep will somehow solve your predicament. You wake some time later. Your head still aches. The hedgehog in your mouth has been joined by its unruly, even less healthy family.

>Remove the hedgehog.

The hedgehog is not a literal hedgehog. It began as a simile then became a metaphor while you were napping. It represents dehydration and regret.

>Get up.

You lurch to your feet and, after swaying on the spot for over a minute, you manage to remain upright. After another minute, so does the room.

> Drink the water.

You drink the stale water. It feels pure and cleansing. There is not enough of it.

>Go to the bathroom.

You stagger to the bathroom. There is a sink, a mirror, a toothbrush and a toilet which has been soiled in an unholy manner.

>Use the sink.

You put your lips over the faucet and fumble for the taps. The water is warm, but still good. You drink until you are dizzy. The vile taste in your mouth remains.

>Brush your teeth.

You squeeze toothpaste along the entire length of the toothbrush and, on your third attempt, insert the head of the brush into your mouth. You brush gingerly. With nothing better to occupy your mind for two minutes, you try to make sense of what happened last night. You draw blanks. You glance in the mirror. A message is printed on your forehead.

lol No, it is an adult thing. At parties guys will sometimes take pics with their... um... you know... pressed to a passed out persons forehead and they call it a mushroom stamp. Being a female and against putting my... yeah... on strangers I would rather have a stamp of the same joke.

For a better ink surface, you may wish to experimentwith soft coatings over the printed stamp. (That's alsoa lot easier on the foreheads... :-)

I'd first try spray or dip silicone coatings, or a tool handle dip plastic, like PlastiDip, to see what gives you both a compliant softness, and holds ink. Various materials are available at:craft, big box hardware, and hobby stores.

I love the zork or hitchhikers guide to the galaxy text game in the beginning. brings back good memories. and I LOVE the instructable. If I were still in the navy I am sure I would put this to GREAT use. (Never pass out at a party)

Incred-ible! I'm amazed to find out that Autodesk gives anything out for free and will check on that immediately. I may want to make one for my husband, proclaiming "I snore, yes I do." So many foreheads, so much untapped imagination... What was the production cost?

Actually, Autodesk is making a big effort to produce free consumer-friendly software at the moment.

The production cost was pretty high. I think it was close to $50, but that was because I manufactured it during one of Ponoko's (frequent) sales. This is one of the drawbacks of 3D printing at the moment. It's great for testing out prototypes fast, but the per-unit production cost is still high. Fortunately, it's coming down in price all the time.

Just tinkering, medicine, engineering, and art? You need to add marketing, advertising, and perhaps screenwriting to your repertoire. Great idea and great presentation! Now instead of just laying awake incredulous that my wife is actually, really, honestly going to hit the snooze alarm a sixth time, I think I'll risk it and (after number three, perhaps) stamp her with a pithy reminder that it's the early bird that catches the worm! (Washable ink only on this one.) Thanks for the idea!

It is I think, the stamp is also reversed when you apply it. Usually to be read normally a stamp is backwards. I believe the picture of the guy brushing his teeth is in a mirror, if you zoom in on the picture of him sleeping on the bar, that stamp is reversed, also the pictures of the stamp have the text forward, so it would stamp reversed.

Brilliant! And for those who don't have the wherewithal to produce the stamps, an ink pen or marker will work. (Just practice writing backwards.) Great idea, great instructable. Congrats on being "Featured!"